Currently, various computing system implemented financial management systems are available including, but not limited to: computing system implemented personal and small business financial management systems; computing system implemented tax preparation systems; computing system implemented business accounting systems; and computing system implemented medical expense management systems; as well as various other data driven financial management systems, as discussed herein, and/or known in the art at the time of filing, and/or as developed after the time of filing.
Computing system implemented financial management systems typically help users manage their finances by providing a centralized interface with banks, credit card companies, and other various financial institutions, for electronically identifying and categorizing financial transactions associated with the user. Currently, computing system implemented financial management systems typically obtain electronic transaction based data, such as payee, payment amount, date, etc. via communication with banks, credit card providers, or other financial institutions, using electronic data transfer systems such as the Open Financial Exchange (OFX) specification, or various other systems for transferring financial transaction data.
The ability to correctly identify and categorize specific financial transactions is often a central feature of a computing system implemented financial management system. Currently, the data necessary to identify and categorize specific types of financial transactions typically comes from the users of the computing system implemented financial management system and then the input from a given user is used to customize and/or modify the categorization features of the computing system implemented financial management system for that given user in isolation from other users.
For instance, using some currently available computing system implemented financial management systems, the electronic transaction based information, such as payee, payment amount, date, etc. associated with a given financial transaction is used to identify the given financial transaction as a given type of financial transaction. In many instances, a list of possible categorizations for the given type of financial transaction is then associated with the given financial transaction based on the given financial transaction being of the given type of financial transaction. In some instances, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction at least initially, is provided by the computing system implemented financial management system, typically based on relatively generalized data and/or parameters. For instance, in some cases, the initial list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction provided by the computing system implemented financial management system is pre-defined statically based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, or similar non-user specific mechanisms. Typically, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction is presented to the user in the form of a pull-down menu associated with a display of the data representing a given financial transaction. The list of possible categorizations often includes two or more possible categorizations for the given financial transaction and/or a default categorization for the given financial transaction. Typically, the user then selects one of the categories in the list of possible categorizations as the category to be applied to the given financial transaction, or the default categorization is applied.
In some instances, the user can modify the specific list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction, including the default categorization, which is applied for the given user. In some instances, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction is modified for the given user based on manual and/or semi-manual user input, such as: the user consistently selecting one of the categories in the list of possible categorizations as the category to be applied to a given type of financial transaction; or by the user manually adding to, and/or modifying, the list of possible categorizations. In some instances, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction is presented to the given user in an order, and/or with a default categorization, customized to the given user's previous categorizations, and/or as determined by the frequency with which the given user historically has categorized financial transactions of the given financial transaction type, and/or similar financial transaction type. As noted, typically, the modified list of possible categorizations associated with a given financial transaction is applied only to the given user's implementation of the computing system implemented financial management system.
In some instances, once a given user has categorized a given type of financial transaction at least a defined minimum number of times consistently, then this categorization becomes the default categorization and the computing system implemented financial management system then automatically categorizes future financial transactions of the given type in accordance with the given user's historical categorization of financial transactions of the given type.
While currently available methods for providing, and/or modifying, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction are useful, these currently available methods are also typically of limited scope. This is because, as noted above, currently available methods for providing, and/or modifying, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction are directly tied to a given users input and are typically only available to, and/or used by, the given user. Consequently, currently available methods for providing, and/or modifying, the list of possible categorizations for a given financial transaction is currently created on a user-by-user basis, and used by a given user in isolation from other users.